LocalAgentFinder survey finds 2017 is a good time to buy and sell properties

•  62 percent of Australian property owners say 2017 is a good year to buy
•  73 percent say it’s a good year to sell 
•  81 percent of NSW residents and 82 percent of Victorians believe 2017 is a good time to sell

Research commissioned by LocalAgentFinder has found that homeowners believe that 2017 is going to be a good year to buy and sell dwellings.

The study done in partnership with Sydney-based data and insights company PureProfile, found that two in three or 62 percent of Australian homeowners felt that this year was a good time to buy, while a further 73 percent believed it was the right time to sell.

The findings, which were derived from an online survey of a national representative of 1001 Australian adults this month, also found that 81 percent of homeowners in New South Wales believed that it is a good time to sell, while it was one percent higher or 82 percent of homeowners in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory who felt the same way.

Elsewhere around the country, confidence was slightly lower with 73 percent of owners in the Northern Territory, 70 percent in South Australia, 67 percent in Queensland and Tasmania, and 44 percent in Western Australia who felt that it was an excellent time to offload properties.

While, homeowners in Western Australia were most optimistic about buying, with 85 percent believing that the Rooster year was a great year to buy up.

The findings from the survey were consistent with rising house prices across Australia, with Sydney and Melbourne recording the highest dwelling value increases from 2015 to 2016, at 15.5 percent and 13.7 percent respectively. Other Australian cities recorded lower gains, with Canberra dwellings rising by 9.3 percent, Brisbane by 3.6 percent, Adelaide by 4.2 percent, while Perth contracted by -4.3 percent.

“It is interesting to see two-thirds of Australians believe a property is a good buy this year, given the double-digit percentage increases, talk of interest rates potentially rising, and potential changes to property investment legislation,” LocalAgentFinder chief Matt McCann said.

“Many of us are talking about Sydney and Melbourne’s strong real estate market, but that is not being seen outside of the Eastern seaboard. In fact, the value of assets in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart were lower in last year than they were eight years ago.

“Older Australians typically have more purchasing power than young people, as they can rely on the equity of existing assets to purchase. Younger people are struggling to keep up with rising house prices, and they are less likely to be inclined to buy this year.”

Below is a snippet on the findings of survey:

Selling property in 2017, overall by state

Buying property in 2017, by age

Selling property in 2017, by age